Contemporary motor vehicles are increasingly equipped with closure elements which can be activated by motor. Such closure elements can be, for example, doors such as side doors and rear doors, in particular sliding doors, flaps, in particular tailgates, boot lids, engine bonnets, luggage compartment floors or the like of a motor vehicle. In this respect, the term “closure element” is to be understood in a wide sense here.
A comfort function which is accorded increasing significance nowadays is the automatic activation of the motor-driven tailgate of a motor vehicle. In the known method (EP 1 808 820 A1), on which the invention is based, there is provision that an operator-side operator control event, here an operator-side foot movement, brings about the motor-driven opening of the tailgate.
The known method uses a control arrangement and a sensor arrangement, wherein within the scope of operator-control-event monitoring by means of the control arrangement the sensor measured values of the sensor arrangement are monitored to determine whether a predetermined operator control event is occurring.
The sensor arrangement has two capacitive sensors which extend over the entire width of the motor vehicle. An operator control event, here an operator-side foot movement, can be easily detected electronically.
While the known method provides a considerable increase in comfort for the operator, problems regarding the operational safety may occur, in particular, during the maintenance of the motor vehicle. The case on which the emphasis is here is that the motor vehicle is raised under external control within the scope of the maintenance or repair. For example, the motor vehicle is lifted in the workshop by means of a lifting platform so that maintenance or repair work can be carried out underneath the motor vehicle.
If the person who is entrusted with carrying out maintenance or repair carries on their person the radio key which is usually necessary for authentication, the situation can occur in which the control arrangement detects a movement of this person as an operator control event when the motor vehicle is lifted. The consequence is motor-driven opening of the tailgate, which as a result of the lifting height of the motor vehicle can in the most unfavourable case lead to a collision of the tailgate with parts of the building, in particular the ceiling of the workshop. To this extent, the operational safety with the known method is limited.
The invention is based on the object of configuring and developing the known method in such a way that the operational safety is increased.